We have a similar issue really in that all his offers are bascially the same , apart from his UiF from Lincoln. If he firms another uni, Lincoln becomes the same as all the others, give or take one grade. It feels like it is too hard to decide! He was thinking about accepting Lincoln's UiF in the car yesterday after the day at Lincoln but that was really vis a vis not having to revise!! Lincoln seemed a pleasant enough uni, but not actually very well organised or welcoming compared to others at Open or Offer Days. Reminded me of Huddersfield , campus wise . None of the buildings quite had the wow factor of the ones at NTU, Hull or OBU . The accommodation was nice, perfectly acceptable but almost too many different halls to be able to make a decision. We looked at 4, and there were at least another 6 or 7. Hull wins hands down on accommodation , assuming he'd get the on campus stuff but their accommodation has already been open a few weeks and Hull is his highest offer.
In terms of Reading vs Birmingham, I always feel like Reading flies under the radar, perhaps because the place itself doesn't have particular appeal to anyone (sorry Reading!). This often groups it with places like Keele (probably a bad example but it is the best I could come up with!), which really have to appeal on the quality of their courses, rather than their location. Birmingham is very popular : I would say it has recently overtaken Sheffield and Nottingham for more able students at my school in terms of popularity. My DS's friend is desperate to go to Reading : he was very impressed at Open Day, or so I hear from his mum! I do think (as the man at Lincoln said to us yesterday) weighing up the different modules is the best way of deciding.
Perhaps read out module titles to your DC without saying which uni they come from? That's how DS and I picked his UCAS choices.